The Effects of Time
by whitedandelions
Summary: Every time Tadashi dies, Hiro builds a time machine and goes back to fix it. Because according to Hiro, Tadashi deserves a long life, and Hiro would stop at nothing to grant him that. TWOSHOT.


Disclaimer: Not mine.

* * *

Hiro was fifty when he built his first time machine.

It was a harder process than he ever thought possible. It took so much of his time and money that he had nothing left but the dream of Tadashi to sustain him.

He was seventeen when he got the idea. After years of fighting crime with the other five, Hiro and the others had decided to stop and concentrate on their schoolwork. Hiro immediately knew what his next thesis was going to be.

Time travel.

Time was such a delicate thing, but Hiro knew he could overcome it.

They thought he was recovered so the others encouraged his obsession with time in hopes it would produce a great thesis.

But he _wasn't_. Every night he would have a dream about his older _dead_ brother. The fire looming high above him and the hat falling delicately at his feet. And the pure anguish he had felt when he had looked back up at the burning building, knowing that his one reason for living was _gone_.

He swore he sometimes felt Tadashi's presence. In Baymax, in their bedroom, in the nerd lab. He found himself talking in odd times to Tadashi, as if his older brother was there, when in reality, he was really only talking to himself.

The others never caught on. Baymax never scanned him without permission after that first time and Hiro had gotten good enough at pretending that the others thought nothing amiss. He had gotten so good at shoving down the pain in his heart and pretending that he didn't see the place where Tadashi should have been everywhere he went.

His thesis was received with great praise. The school officials thought he was brilliant, and gave him an award for his outstanding research. Alistair Krei approached him again, and this time, Hiro accepted his proposal to go work with him.

Slowly, Hiro had started to drift away from his friends. They still saw each other frequently, but it was slowing down rapidly. Fred had married a sweet girl who was just into superheroes as he was. Wasabi got a job as a sushi chef. Honey and Gogo had married and adopted a sweet kid. Hiro stayed alone, in his lab, researching time until the lights were gone in the sky.

Aunt Cass died on a Friday morning. A truck had crashed into her car as she was driving home and she died immediately on impact. All Hiro could think of was that he didn't spend enough time with her before she was gone. It was that very night he approached the time machine that laid dormant in his office. He hadn't submitted it for official review because he had promised himself to never let his work be used for evil ever again.

He wasn't supposed to use it. It was supposed to be a safety net, something to reach for but never to use. It had put his nightmares of Tadashi to rest and had done its purpose.

But now he had no one else left.

* * *

Hiro awoke to a steady pain in his head. The sunlight streaming in was harsh and made his eyes swim as he tried to focus on sitting up.

"Hey, sleepyhead."

Hiro froze in his actions, the familiar voice making his heart stop and tears to leak from his eyes.

_Tadashi_.

He slowly opened his eyes, turning to face the owner of the voice.

And there, in all of his dreams and nightmares combined, stood the person who had been haunting him for decades.

He couldn't help the cry that escaped from his mouth at the pure _happiness_ he had felt from seeing his older brother _alive_ and _well_ and Hiro threw himself into Tadashi's arms.

Tadashi, although puzzled and probably very worried, wrapped his arms around Hiro, murmuring comforting words into Hiro's hair.

Hiro didn't care if he was dreaming. Or if he was in a special kind of afterlife or if he had finally gone _insane_. Because nothing else mattered except Tadashi who was warm, alive, and _here_.

* * *

Tadashi simply thought Hiro had a bad dream.

Which in some ways, was _true_. Hiro did have a bad dream. He had been living it ever since Tadashi had died in the fire.

During lunch, Hiro couldn't keep his eyes off of Tadashi's face. He was as beautiful as he ever remembered. Strong jaw, handsome face, and a strong body to boot. He looked exactly as he had in Hiro's dreams.

He promised himself that he would never let Tadashi come to harm ever again, and when he found out they were exactly a month from that fateful showcase, Hiro knew he would _never_ make his microbots again.

* * *

Fate didn't work that way though. Time _was_ a delicate thing and Hiro had hardly mastered all the secrets of it.

The month with Tadashi was brilliant and _wonderful_. Hiro never left his brother's side; he even followed Tadashi to the lab and met the others and Baymax. It was everything he had ever wanted, and sometimes Hiro was light-headed just thinking about how lucky he was to be holding Tadashi once again.

Tadashi died on a rainy day. Everything was _wrong_. Tadashi wasn't supposed to die; Hiro had gone back to prevent that very thing from occurring!

But Tadashi was living on borrowed time, and Hiro was determined to increase that time _no matter what_.

* * *

Hiro finished his time machine at age forty. He didn't even bother keeping in contact with the others; his life here had ended the very moment Tadashi had breathed his last breath.

This time, Hiro made sure to keep well-documented notes on how the time machine was made. He had a sinking feeling that this would happen again, that perhaps a long life with Tadashi wasn't possible.

But Hiro was persistent. If he had to live another thirty years without Tadashi just to live a month _with_ Tadashi...he would do it without a moment's hesitation.

Because any time with Tadashi was worth _everything_.

* * *

There seemed to be no correlation between the timing of Tadashi's deaths. Usually, it happened a month after Hiro arrived in the new timeline, but sometimes, Hiro only got one _day_ with Tadashi before his big brother disappeared. It was agonizing, but Hiro persisted, determined to give his big brother a long life.

The only thing common between them was that every incident started because of Tadashi's kindness. Tadashi almost always sacrificed himself for someone else, and no matter how much Hiro tried to plead otherwise, it would always happen. Sometimes it would be Callaghan, other times it would be a little girl on a street she shouldn't have been on.

Hiro tried everything. He was starting to wonder if he should just tie Tadashi down and lock him in the basement to keep him safe.

Clearly, otherworldly beings were messing with him. It scared Hiro; he knew he shouldn't be doing what he was, he should go out and live his life _without_ Tadashi. He was messing with the timeline, _and_ trying to play God. It was no wonder he kept on being punished.

Because it had to be a punishment. Tadashi's deaths always occurred in front of him, and Hiro knew he would have new nightmares every time they happened.

Was he being more cruel by attempting to save Tadashi? He wondered if Tadashi could feel them; if his big brother could remember each and every death that had happened.

But he couldn't give up. Tadashi deserved to live a long life, and Hiro was being selfish. He wanted to live that life with Tadashi.

He wanted to see Tadashi grow old, marry a nice lady, and have a young girl that Hiro could dote on incessantly. He wanted Tadashi to get recognition for the wonder that was Baymax, wanted the world to know who Tadashi Hamada was and just why he was possibly the best person to live ever.

That's why he kept on trying.

Because to stop would mean he was giving up.

And Hiro would _never_ give up on his older brother.

* * *

Sorry for shortness + writing style... second part uploaded either before or after finals (dec 19 D:)

Thanks for reading, and please review, fav, and alert. And no hate please : my little heart can't take it.


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